Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

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dagger
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Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 9:30 am

I've been pondering what the reasons were that I had such a good year and the one that sticks out to me the most is the fact that I didn't use any cameras this year.

The two bucks I shot this year were in two pieces of woods I'd never hunted before. I found these two different pieces with Google Earth and from there I went in and scout/hunted them until i had a buck on the ground.

I feel like by not using trail cameras it forced me to read the sign and hunt accordingly. I didn't have photos telling me where to sit but the sign that these bucks left behind dictated what I did.

Since I joined the beast in 2015 and after watching Dan's videos and reading the many good tactical threads here it's made me so I don't do any more Willy nilly hunting. If I don't think I have a good kill set up I'll either not hunt or I keep scouting until I feel like when I go hunting I have a really good chance of killing a buck.

I'm not saying I'll never use cameras again but this year without them has proven to me that to be a good Hunter cameras are not necessary. I feel like they can make a guy get lazy in his scouting and being able to read sign without him even realizing it.

Let's hear what you guys think about the whole situation :think:


dagger
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 9:54 am

I guess I should add here that I can pretty much hunt wherever I want in NH. If it's not posted it's legal to hunt so most of the places I hunt there's many thousand acres free for the roaming so that could very opinions greatly on this subject.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby jkelley1487 » Wed Jan 02, 2019 11:24 am

I would agree on the use of cameras. I felt like I was always doing more harm than good by running my 7-8 trail cams. I try to limit them to food sources and angle them down but still had a mature buck looking at it on a pic. I never had him on that camera the rest of the year. Maybe it was coincidence but I felt like he didn’t like what he saw.

I punched my tag this year on a property where I wasn’t running cams and used the sign to dictate on where to hunt. I also was able to keep my presence to a minimum by not putting added pressure while checking/moving trail cameras.

It felt a lot more freeing to just go hunt and let the deer sign tell me if there was a good buck around.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Wed Jan 02, 2019 11:36 am

I killed my biggest bow buck this last season and I never use cameras at all. I asked a question here a few years back if the hunters on this forum would still be as successful as they are if they didn't use cameras. I don't think I got any answers in return. I don't know what to think about that. Maybe no one wants to admit it?? I have at least one encounter with mature bucks in the last 4 seasons. Im sure those encounters would go up if I used cameras but I really like the challenge of not knowing whats out there. I want to believe I am getting better at going in and setting up on fresh sign too. Big tracks, scrapes, etc.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 11:52 am

jkelley1487 wrote:I would agree on the use of cameras. I felt like I was always doing more harm than good by running my 7-8 trail cams. I try to limit them to food sources and angle them down but still had a mature buck looking at it on a pic. I never had him on that camera the rest of the year. Maybe it was coincidence but I felt like he didn’t like what he saw.

I punched my tag this year on a property where I wasn’t running cams and used the sign to dictate on where to hunt. I also was able to keep my presence to a minimum by not putting added pressure while checking/moving trail cameras.

It felt a lot more freeing to just go hunt and let the deer sign tell me if there was a good buck around.


The last part here, that's exactly how I felt about it not using them.

I know for sure in past years when I've used cameras it's made me really doubt where I should be hunting exactly whereas without them my only option was to hunt the best areas I could find according to the buck sign. Like Dan has said in the past they should be used for inventory purposes only but I still think for me anyway it takes the edge off from being able to read sign properly.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby Jdw » Wed Jan 02, 2019 11:52 am

IMO trail cameras can be a big asset or a big handicap depending on how and where they are deployed and how often they are checked.
They can be a great tool especially if you are picky about what the bucks headgear looks like.
I have had a lot of success finding and targeting bucks with the use of trail cams but a lot of guys I know are much more likely to tip the buck off, checking the camera, instead of patterning them.
I think it takes a fair amount of strategy and discipline to get the most benefit out of running them.

It is sort of exciting not knowing what’s around but on the flip side you can burn a lot of time hunting the wrong properties.

I prefer to use them.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:00 pm

Crazinamatese wrote:I killed my biggest bow buck this last season and I never use cameras at all. I asked a question here a few years back if the hunters on this forum would still be as successful as they are if they didn't use cameras. I don't think I got any answers in return. I don't know what to think about that. Maybe no one wants to admit it?? I have at least one encounter with mature bucks in the last 4 seasons. Im sure those encounters would go up if I used cameras but I really like the challenge of not knowing whats out there. I want to believe I am getting better at going in and setting up on fresh sign too. Big tracks, scrapes, etc.


I fully understand the thrill of hunting a buck that you have no idea what's on his head. Both bucks I killed this year were a total surprise.

I do think that for me, at least this year not running cams was one of the keys to having a successful year.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:06 pm

Jdw wrote:IMO trail cameras can be a big asset or a big handicap depending on how and where they are deployed and how often they are checked.
They can be a great tool especially if you are picky about what the bucks headgear looks like.
I have had a lot of success finding and targeting bucks with the use of trail cams but a lot of guys I know are much more likely to tip the buck off, checking the camera, instead of patterning them.
I think it takes a fair amount of strategy and discipline to get the most benefit out of running them.

It is sort of exciting not knowing what’s around but on the flip side you can burn a lot of time hunting the wrong properties.

I prefer to use them.


I do fully understand the use of them if a guy is targeting a certain animal. And to find out what kind of bucks are in certain areas, that makes very much sense.

I'm in the category at least for now of trying to kill mature bucks no matter the head gear.

It'd be a totally different story from me if I hunted smaller parcels in the Midwest.
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Thesouthpaw
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby Thesouthpaw » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:17 pm

I ran four cameras this year and have not checked them since september. I am really excited to pull the cards and see how the deer moved during the different phases of the season. All of the intel from my cameras will be used for next year.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby NH Teufelhund » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:48 pm

dagger wrote:I found these two different pieces with Google Earth and from there I went in and scout/hunted them until i had a buck on the ground.


Dagger I’m a NH guy too, 5th year hunting, first year since I found the beast. I’m completely self taught, never had family or friends who hunted but always had the strongest desire to bow hunt. So in short, I have learned a ton the last five seasons but I still feel like I don’t have a damn clue what I’m doing!

So my question is how are you mapping on google earth? What are you looking for? Since I found the beast I spent my time finding and scouting swamp edges and tried to employ tactics from Dans swamp DVD but I’m thinkkng maybe I’m not rural enough? What I mean is these swamps I’m hunting are average S NH type areas where I have leaf blowers within hearing distance. I’m toying with he thought that I need to get way out and away from pressure. Is that the right track? And if so should I be looking for small rivers, power lines, swamps, hardwoods up against some farms or what type of terrain gets your heart pumping to get out and hunt or scout?

I’m not looking for lat longitude coordinates by any means, but what should I be looking for on google earth in our area to have a chance at scouting some good buck areas? Thanks for any advice.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby cspot » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:54 pm

Thesouthpaw wrote:I ran four cameras this year and have not checked them since september. I am really excited to pull the cards and see how the deer moved during the different phases of the season. All of the intel from my cameras will be used for next year.


Hopefully you remembered to turn them on. :lol: I applaud you for leaving them out that long without checking. No way I could do that as I have to check them fairly often.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby treeroot » Wed Jan 02, 2019 1:06 pm

I enjoy not using cameras. For me they take some of the fun out of it.

The only time I use them is for trespassing issues.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby oldrank » Wed Jan 02, 2019 1:15 pm

I keep trying to figure out a good cam system that fits my style. So far I haven't been successful. They usually sit in my truck or I pop em up behind the house for a couple weeks.

I kinda do the same with trying to video my hunts. It just never happens. I have this wierd thing where I feel like there are certain things that need to be left unsaid or unseen. It's tough to explain.

I know cams would probably help me but there is just a magical feeling of seeing a buck appear and looking at the antlers for the first time after a kill.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby cspot » Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:06 pm

For me I don't really use cameras to pattern deer. Yes I have gotten some intel from cameras because I can tell the direction that the deer came from. I use them more for inventory and honestly running cams and getting pics of some good bucks is alot of fun even if I don't end up killing them.
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Re: Interesting thought on success for 2018 season

Unread postby dagger » Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:11 pm

NH Teufelhund wrote:
dagger wrote:I found these two different pieces with Google Earth and from there I went in and scout/hunted them until i had a buck on the ground.


Dagger I’m a NH guy too, 5th year hunting, first year since I found the beast. I’m completely self taught, never had family or friends who hunted but always had the strongest desire to bow hunt. So in short, I have learned a ton the last five seasons but I still feel like I don’t have a damn clue what I’m doing!

So my question is how are you mapping on google earth? What are you looking for? Since I found the beast I spent my time finding and scouting swamp edges and tried to employ tactics from Dans swamp DVD but I’m thinkkng maybe I’m not rural enough? What I mean is these swamps I’m hunting are average S NH type areas where I have leaf blowers within hearing distance. I’m toying with he thought that I need to get way out and away from pressure. Is that the right track? And if so should I be looking for small rivers, power lines, swamps, hardwoods up against some farms or what type of terrain gets your heart pumping to get out and hunt or scout?

I’m not looking for lat longitude coordinates by any means, but what should I be looking for on google earth in our area to have a chance at scouting some good buck areas? Thanks for any advice.


Good to see another NH guy.
Man how to even start is the question.
I mainly hunt woods that are at least 1000 acres or more. Suburban areas are not necessarily a bad place either I just don't have much of that on the west side of S NH.

I particularly like big ridges and bigger swamps, especially if a piece has both.

The first buck I shot this year was a little different story than usual cause we didn't have anything for acorns left come September so my strategy this year was to look for fields and old logouts. I ended up shooting him between the swamp he bedded in and a corn field. That scenario for me is a rare occurrence cause if the acorns are plentiful that's what the deer will be eating. So anyway this piece was a small farm backed by a decent size swamp and a fair size piece of woods behind it.

The second buck I shot was in about 1900 acres that consisted of a big ridge and a huge swamp down low. The bottom of the ridge met at the point of the swamp and the ridge had been logged several years back so looking at areals I could see the old cut coming down the ridge almost to the end of the swamp. So I saw that area as a pinch point so that's where I started scouting this year.

It varies year to year and it depends on the food sources available. Ultimately you need to get hunting the bedding but the feed available determines the bedding around here.

Transition lines of any kind are an excellent place to start in any piece of woods.
Softwoods to hardwoods
Swamp edges
Leeward sides of ridges
Edges of Laurel thickets
Ponds
Rivers
I always start on some kind of edge. I hope this is somewhat helpful. We could discuss the breakdown of wilderness for hours but feel free to ask any other questions. I'm by no means an expert but I do have many many hours out in the NH woods.


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